From the outside looking in, the relationship between Steve Harvey and NBCUniversal, the distributors of his talk show “Steve,” isn’t looking too good.
In September of 2018, there were reports that his show would be replaced by “The Kelly Clarkson Show” in 11 major markets, including San Francisco, New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington, Miami and Los Angeles.
Clarkson, as many probably know, achieved fame as the first winner of “American Idol” and went on to be a popular singer, as well as a judge on the show “The Voice.”
Harvey already addressed the decision on his radio show earlier this week and believes NBC is trying to get rid of “Steve” entirely.
“They gon’ close the door on me in 2019,” he predicted. “All that means for me is God has another door for me to open. These people that make these decisions at these networks and stuff, they don’t control my life.”
Then on Wednesday, Jan. 9, Harvey was the headline speaker at the Variety Entertainment Summit and said he didn’t know if his relationship with NBC would be ending soon or not.
The “Family Feud” host also admitted that he didn’t like how NBC made the announcement about his slot being given to Clarkson without contacting him and believes a conversation should’ve first taken place.
“You know, I’m an honorable guy,” said Harvey. “I’m just an old-school guy, and I just thought that you’re supposed to just talk to people and just go, ‘Look, you’ve been good business for us. This is what we’re thinking of doing, are you OK with that?'”
“No, you just don’t put something in the paper and say, ‘I’m just going to make this move right here,’ because it’s crazy,” he added. “My show ‘Steve’ is the only show in the last seven years in syndication that has stuck.”
NBC hasn’t responded to Harvey’s words yet, and his talk show has been renewed for the 2018-2019 TV season. You can see him talk about “Steve” and NBCUniversal below.
Steve Harvey (@IAmSteveHarvey) suggests he might end NBCU deal for daytime talk show https://t.co/uiXXrZbbGz #VarietyCES pic.twitter.com/hK0PoXiOiV
— Variety (@Variety) January 9, 2019
